|
|
"We need action not only to end the fighting but to
make the peace....My own government would be glad to recommend Canadian
participation in such a United Nations force, a truly international peace
and police force."
Lester B. Pearson, November 2, 1956
Over the years, more than 125,000 Canadian
military personnel have served on peacekeeping missions for the United
Nations - more than any other country. Though the term "peacekeeping"
didn't become widely used until 1956, the UN began deploying Peacekeepers
almost 10 years earlier and Canadians have been a part of it since the
beginning.
In 1948, hostilities broke out between
the Palestinian Arabs and the new state of Israel and in May, the UN sent
out it's first observers to help calm the situation. Under the name
the United Nations Truce supervision Organization, (UNTSO), their goal was
simply to act as an international watchdog, supervising the truce between
the two groups. UNTSO has become the longest running UN peacekeeping
mission although it's goals have changed over the years.
About the same time, the UN
established a three member UN Commission for India and Pakistan, (UNCIP), to
"investigate the facts pursuant to Article 34 of the Charter of the United
Nations" and "to exercise...any mediatory influence likely to smooth away
difficulties. Indian and Pakistan has recently, in 1947, become
independent dominions had strong differences had immediately arose between
the two over the accession of the Kashmir district. UNCIP did not
arrive in the subcontinent until 07 July, 1948, and on the 13th of August,
UNCIP unanimously adopted a resolution proposing to India and Pakistan that
their respective high commands order a cease-fire and refrain from
reinforcing the troops under their control in Kashmir. The resolution
provided for the appointment by the Commission of military observers who
would supervise the observance of the cease-fire order. By February of
1949, 20 military observers under the command of the Military Advisor, Lt.
Gen Maurice Delvoie (Belgium) and became known as the United Nations
Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). In March of
1950, Brigadier Harry H. Angle (Canada) was appointed by the Secretary
General as Chief Military Observer and head of UNMOGIP, a position he held
until his death in an air crash in Kashmir in July of 1950. Brigadier
Angle is believed to be the first Canadian to die in the service of peace.
In 1957, Lester Pearson's vision
won him the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1988, the Peace Prize went to the
United Nations for 40 years of promoting peace. Of the 53 peacekeeping
missions coordinated by the UN since it's inception, 35 began after 1990 and
fourteen are still ongoing. Canada continues to play an important role
in the effort to achieve world peace. In 1994, the Canadian government
established the Lester B. Pearson Canadian International Peacekeeping
Training Centre on the site of the former military base in Clementsport,
Nova Scotia.
The Canadian Peacekeeping
Service Medal, CPSM, was created to honour our country's long history of
participation in international peace efforts. Those honoured include
veterans, police officers, civilians and current members of the Canadian
Forces who were deployed on peacekeeping or observer missions outside of
Canada for at least 30 days. Canada has constructed a memorial to it's
Peacekeepers, Reconciliation, in the nation's capital of Ottawa.
|
